Thursday, 24 January 2008

here's an archive of GLASPAPER, a publication produced by a deign co-operative I was part of. (established by a group of us who studied together in Diploma School). If it proved anything it was just how easy it is to get something done yourself!

WHAT IF: projects Ltd builds upon what‘s happening on the ground. We consider the qualities of existing conditions that may begin to unlock resources that reduce dependency, enabling people to find new ways of doing, thinking and relating in response to everyday issues. We make small adjustments to our environment which have the potential to influence locally, city wide and beyond.

Thursday, 17 January 2008

On Monday, the MA digital ekistics: new online virtual settlements was validated for the maximum 5 year term. The course, the first of its kind, will provide a route by which students can conduct advanced design-based research into how architecture and urbanism can respond to these novel and increasingly pervasive electronic spaces. Should be fun....kind of drl in space, really...link

Wednesday, 9 January 2008

JJ showed me this the other day - I want one - we should get one- in fact everybody needs one, imho....RepRap is short for Replicating Rapid-prototyper. It is the practical self-copying 3D printer shown on the left - a self-replicating machine. RepRap will make plastic, ceramic, or metal parts, and is itself made from plastic parts, so it will be able to make copies of itself. It is a three-axis robot that moves several material extruders. These extruders produce fine filaments of their working material with a paste-like consistency. Conductors can be intermixed with the plastic to form electronic circuits - in 3D even!

Tuesday, 8 January 2008

The three-dimensional, yet relatively simple geometry of IsoTruss® grid structure provides substantial resistance to local and global column buckling, while lending itself to cost effective fabrication using batch or automated continuous manufacturing techniques. IsoTruss extrapolates the traditional 2-D triangle based truss to a 3-D truss made up of pyramids formed by isosceles triangles.

The IsoTruss® can support axial tension or compression, torsion, or flexure (bending) loads, or any combination thereof. Each individual member carries primarily axial loads, taking full advantage of the inherent strength and stiffness of continuous fiber-reinforced composites. IsoTruss structures are particularly effective when replacing structures that were stability-critical designs.

Saturday, 5 January 2008

The engagement of art with ecological questions is more old than 40 years. Since 1990 Insa Winkler did approach segments of this voluminous theme, special the keeping, the destroying and the repairing of the landscape - Moor, Chernobyl Zone, Military Zone, Wadden Sea and then the mass production of agriculture in the focus of the Acorn Pig and their species appropriate in the landscape.

`The domestic animal of human being incur into the machinery of the European agar industry. As an object of this intensive factory farming it becomes the danger of the landscape.´

Friday, 4 January 2008

From BD - The Parkrand building, designed by MVRDV and interior designer Richard Hutten, is one of the key projects in what is being branded a “metamorphosis”. Situated between a park and a residential neighbourhood set for demolition, the 135m-long, 12-storey building dominates its surroundings through its sheer size. With 223 dwellings, 193 of which are at the higher end of the rental market, the Parkrand building introduces a type of tenant to the north-western periphery of Amsterdam West who had been virtually absent in the social housing units it replaces.

I know some of you are aware of this guy- but maybe not everyone is - so here you go!Using a system that allows plants to grow without any soil, The Vertical Garden by Patrick Blanc allows for natural living beauty in the otherwise most uninhabitable of places: the very walls of buildings, indoors or out. Watering and fertilization are automatic, so it's almost completely hassle free. Patrick Blanc has created customized living walls all over the world.linkeroo

Wednesday, 2 January 2008

In case you missed them - check out this lot of shrinking violets - I'm sure you are aching to join them - I particularly admire the island in the shape of Russia - mad as a brush and rightly receiving the 'god complex' award